Improvement in grain-cleaning machines



2 Sheets--She et 1.

S. BURGER., Grain-Cleaning Machines. No.149,43 PatentedApri|7,1874.

2SheetsSheet2. S. BURGER. Grain-Cleaning Machines.

Patented April v7, 1874.

-No.l'49,435.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICEc SAMUEL BURGER, OF YORK, PENNSYLVANIA.

IMPROVEMENT IN GRAIN-CLEANING MACHINES.

Specilication forming part of Letta rs Patent No. 149,435, dated Apr l 7, 1874; application filed v February 3, 1874.

To all whom t may concern:

Be it known that I, SAMUEL BURGER, of York, in the county ot' York and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain Improvements in Grain-Cleaning Machines, of which the following is a specification: y

This invention relates to that class of machines which, being employed for cleaning the grain previous to its passage to the smu't or decorticating machine, remove therefrom loose foreign matters by means of screens and atmospheric currents acting consecutively on the grain during its transit, and which at the same time separate the refuse materials into appropriate groups. My improvement consists of certain peculiarities in the construction ofthe wind-trunks or air-ducts and their adjuncts, and in their arrangement with reference to the vibrating screens, all fully explained in the ensuing description and specifically pointed out in theclaims.

In the annexed drawings, Figure l is a vertical section of my improved grain-cleaning machine. Fig. 2 is also a vertical section in a plane at right angles to the section represented in Fig. l. Figs. 3 to 7 are detail views, hereinafter more specifically referred to.

The same letters of reference are employed in all the figures in the designation of identical parts.

The grain is received upon the shoe A, permanently secured to the top of the screen or riddle frame B, and arranged to overhang the uppermost series of riddles on their most elevated side. The overhang end of the shoe passes through an aperture in the side of the induction-spout c1 of the primary air-duct G, so as to discharge the grain, when it at once, before reaching the first screen or riddle, is subjected to a strong upward draft, which carries a considerable portion of the lighter foreign matters into this air-duct, the construction of which is clearly illustrated in Fig. 3. The in duction passage or spout cl and the main airpassage c of this duct open into and are connected by the downwardly projecting discharge-spout O1, into which the heavier portions of the materials drawn into the duct are thrown, partly by the action of the deiiector c2, and partly by the eddies formed at the top ot' this spout. The portions thus directed downward are deposited upon the converging partitions c3 and c, the space between which is covered by a valve, c5. The opening in the extreme end of this spout is covered by another Valve, c5. These valves are operated automatically by the material seeking its discharge and the draft of air, in such a manner that, one being` opened by the former,'the other is at once closed by the latter, and thus the proper inhalation of air through the induction-passage c1 is not interfered with. in this discharge-spout, I form a series of airholes, cl, in the slanting side of its lower end beneath the partition c, and cover such holes by a register, e8, by means of which the amount of air admitted through them can be regulated. The light stuff is carried along by the draft through the main passage c, and drawn from the lower end thereof into the fan-case D1, out of which it is blown by the fan D. A valve, C2, is arranged inthe main passage of this airduct, by means of which the draft can be readily governed.

The grain falls from the shoe onto the rst screen, E, of coarse meshwhich simply separates straw, sticks, and larger articles, while the grain and finer refuse pass through onto the second screen El where another se iaration takes place. The grain and ner foreign matters, still passing through the second screen, are received upon a board or plate, E2, and directed by a chute into the secondary air-duct F. These screens and bottom plate are inclined in the manner shown, the former discharging, respectively, upon opposite sides of the machine whatever does not pass through them.

To provide for a more effectual withdrawal of the light foreign matters mixed` with the grain thus screened, the vertical end of the in duction passage or spout F1 of this secondary air-duct has a series of inclined shelves, f,which retard the downward passage of the gra-in and present it at several points, in thin streams, to the action of the upward currents of air. A space is also left between the upper end of each alternate shelf and the side of the spout, as best seen in Fig. 4, to aiford an unobstructed passage for the rising light stuff. Aside from this addition the secondary airduct is in every respect similar in construction to the primary To modify the draft one, having the depending spout 172 for the deposition and discharge of the more weighty particles with the same appendages described in connection with the spout C1.

The grain is received from the spout F1 upon the riddle E2, in passing over which the fine seeds, and other fine foreign matters mixed with it, sift through the screen, and, falling upon the board or plate E4, are discharged at the side of the machine. The grain is directed from the end of the screen into the tertiary and last air-duct, clearly illustrated in Fig. 5, falling into the wide central shaft G, through the open lower end of which it is discharged. The main or induction shaft G of the duct separates into two arched branches, G1 G1, which are respectively connected to the side or eduction shafts G2 G2 by the downwardly-projecting discharge-spouts G3 G3, which are constructed and act like the spouts C1 and F2. The size ofthe passages g, connecting the discharge-spouts G3 and side shafts G2, can be regulated bythe sliding valves H, which are provided with racks 71 and are operated by pinions h on shafts H', as best seen in Fig. 6.

The construction of the tertiary air-duct with central and side shafts is of very great importance, as it enables the machine to etfect at the last stages of its operation a very complete separation of the nearly-clean grain and the lighter particles still mixed with it by means of a quite strong draft, which, being divided on top, divides the refuse materials, that they may again be separated in quantities best suited to the purpose. All the screens and conducting-plates are secured to the screenframe B, which is hung by links or straps b from the main frame I of the machine, and receives its vibrating motion from cranks or eccentrics on the counter-shaft K, through suitable connecting-rods. rlhe shaft K is driven, by belt and pulleys, from the fan sha-ft D2,

which is stepped in a bearing at its lower end and supported near its upper end in abearing on a cross-bar of the frame. rIhe air is drawn by the fan D through the openings in the top and bottom of the fan-case, which openings are covered, respectively, by the Hat chambers D3 and D4, with which the several air-duets communicate. rEhe discharge-opening of the fancase is provided with a slide, L, by shifting which from one side to the other the proper tangential direction can be given to the air, whether the fan turns from right to left, or vice versa, the sides of the fan-case contiguous to the discharge-opening being arranged convergingly tangential, all as clearly shown in Fig. 7. The opening in the lower side of the fan-case can be increased or diminished in size, according to the necessities, by means of a valve, M.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is

l. rlhe combinatiomwith the vibrating screens and the fan, of the simple primary and secondary air-ducts and separators, and the compound tertiary air-duct and separator, arranged relatively substantially as and for the purposes specified.

2. The overlapping inclined shelves f in the imluction-spout F1 of the secondary air-duct F, arranged and operating substantially as specied.

3. The fan-case Dl, the discharge opening of which is bounded by convergingly-tangential sides, in combination with the shiftable slide L, substantially as specified.

In testimony whereof I have signed my naine to the foregoing specification in the presence of two subscribing' witnesses.

SAMUEL BURGER.

Titnessess PETER AHL, T. C. SrRoMAN. 

